


Suspect Winter

by orphan_account



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Slow Burn, wholesome but sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-09-01 22:36:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16774279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Modern college AU. Steve is a college student in D.C after growing up in Brooklyn. While he's got a few friends, none of them can replace his best friend that moved away their freshman year of high school. No explanation, no warning. Just a text saying that he was moving to Russia, and to never text this number again. While riding the train back to campus one day, he runs into a man that keeps watching him on the train. And he keeps running into Steve. Almost like someone planned it.Then he shows up in one of Steve's lectures one day.





	1. red line

**Author's Note:**

> I see a good amount of modern AUs that take place in DC and/or are college AUs. I'm from D.C, and I'm a college student, so I thought writing something like this would nice since it's close to home for me. Please leave comments so I know what to improve on!

“Doors opening. Please stand back to allow customers to exit.” A robot female voice said. Steve stepped to the side to allow people to exit the train. A man holding a briefcase, a woman with a backpack, children in school uniforms brushed past him as they exited. Steve walked onto the train and blinked a few times to help adjust his eyes to the bright light of the train car. He walked down towards the end of the train and sat in the blue plastic seat that was closer to the window. He looked towards the train car doors and watched other people get on and sit, then stand after all the seats were taken. A man rushed onto the train just before the doors closed and stood right by the entrance. Steve frowned slightly; passengers weren’t supposed to block the doors in the train in case of an emergency. Even during rush hour, the doors remained unblocked by people. Most people were wearier about riding the metro because of all the fires, but it still was better than driving a car right into downtown D.C 

Steve tried to get a closer look at his face, but the hat that the man was wearing covered about half of it, and his long brown hair blocked out the rest. Steve huffed and leaned back in his seat again, staring out of the window and watching the tunnel lights zoom past him. After a couple of stops, he got a funny feeling that someone was watching him. He looked back towards the interior of the train car and saw the same man from earlier watching him. Or it looked like he was watching him. The man’s hat was still pulled too low for Steve to be able to see his eyes. They both quickly looked away from each other, and the man walked towards the other end of the train car. 

“Metro Center. Doors will open on the left.” Steve stood up, ready to fight through the crowd of people to get to the next train that he had to catch. The train car doors opened, bringing in a gush of warm air that smelled questionable at best. People poured out of the train and rushed to the escalator. Steve squinted as his eyes adjusted to being back on a dark train platform. He walked over to the escalator, saw how crowded it was and decided to take the stairs. While trying to avoid touching the railing of the staircase, he jogged up it and saw that the next train he needed to catch was already boarding. Steve broke out into a full sprint and made it inside just as the doors slid shut. 

“This is a red line train. Next stop is Farragut North.” The female voice said. Steve stood squished between two larger men and sighed. This was going to be a long ride. He looked around to see if there was any more space on the train, but it looked packed as far as he could see.   
“Every day I tell myself that I’m going to avoid the red line during rush hour and yet here I am.” A woman with box braids said next to him.   
“Maybe they should run more trains during rush hour.” Another woman with a pixie cut replied and then laughed “Or maybe they don’t since they don’t want any more station fires.”   
“It’s said but it’s true.” The first woman said while shaking her head, causing her braids to fall in front of her face. Steve slowly turned the other way, to scope out the other side of the train better and then his eyes widened. 

Standing at the end of the car was the same man from earlier. And he looked like he was looking right at Steve. This time though, the other man didn’t look away from Steve and continued to stare him down. Intimidated, Steve looked down and tried to admire his beat-up converse for the next three stops. 

When the train finally emptied enough so he could get a seat, Steve sat down on the now warm plastic seats. He looked up at the screen with the map on it and saw that his stop was next. He sighed; so much for catching a break. Steve stood back up and grabbed onto a pole as the train slowed to a stop. He got off, and then began to walk towards the escalator. As he approached the exit gates, he began to search his pockets for his wallet. 

“Shit!” He muttered while patting his jacket pockets and then his pants pockets with more urgency each time he began to panic. Steve turned back around to see if his wallet had fallen out onto the ground, but there was nothing behind him either. The station manager was starting to stare at him, probably wondering why he hadn’t crossed through the exit gates yet. 

Then someone tapped his shoulder. Steve whipped around and saw the same man from earlier. He was looking down slightly, so Steve still couldn’t see this guy’s face. The man reached into the pocket of his black hoodie and pulled out a wallet. Steve's eyes widened. 

“Thank you so much! I thought that I would be screwed over for sure.” He exclaimed. The man handed over his wallet, stood for a moment afterwards and then walked away, back down the escalator.  
“Okay then” Steve muttered, while turning around and touching his wallet to the gate’s payment pad. The orange doors slid back, and Steve walked over towards the elevators to go up onto the busy Washington streets.


	2. rainy day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finals are coming up, so I'm trying to post a lot now, since I won't be able too later.

The cars drove down Wisconsin avenue as fast as usual, despite the downpour that was happening outside. Steve tighten the grip on his umbrella and sighed, his breath condensing into a little cloud. He then took a deep breath, smelling the rain and river water in the air. Originally he and some other friends were going to go into Georgetown to hang out and window shop. But since the weather turned out to be so awful, they just decided to get something to eat and then head back home. In a way, he kind of regretted going out since it was so cold and miserable outside. On the other hand, though, he did enjoy hanging out and catching up with his friends. 

As he approached the bus stop, he noticed that there was someone else there. They were wearing a black hoodie that had its hood pulled up and some blue jeans. Steve cringed at the thought of being soaking wet like the guy at the bus stop. As he approached the bus stop, he saw that the other man was shaking slightly. Probably due to the cold, Steve thought. He looked at the man with more attention to detail this time and saw strands of hair covering his face and the hints of a frown peeking out from the shadows of his hoodie. 

Steve gasped, and the other man looked up. Steve quickly looked away, not wanting to draw any more attention to himself as he continued to approach the same man that returned his wallet to him. The other man continued to look at him for a moment, before averting his eyes back to the ground. Steve now was close to him and then he paused. 

“Do I get closer? Should I just stay here? I could share my umbrella with him to help him out… but I don’t even know this guy! What if he actually took my wallet, and then gave it back because he felt bad? How can I trust someone like that?” Steve shifted in place  
while running through these thoughts. “He probably didn’t take my wallet, although I have no idea how I even lost it.” The other man watched Steve shift from foot to foot and chuckled. “He probably is a good person, just not very social.” Steve looked back at the man who was still hunched over and then took an extra step forward- extending his arm holding the umbrella so that it covered both of them.

The other man gasped softly and looked up in surprise. Steve met his gaze and then quickly looked away.   
“You- you looked cold.” Steve said. The other man could hardly hear him over the rain and traffic.   
“Thank you for returning my wallet the other day.” He said slightly louder. “Where did you find it?” The other man just shrugged and looked away.   
“Okay then…” Steve thought. “That was you, right?” 

He looked back and nodded at Steve. They both stood there in silence, watching the cars pass by as the rain fell. Children ran by them, splashing in the puddles created by the rain. Men and women rushed past them under umbrellas. From a distance, everyone looked the same. Black umbrella, black jacket, hunched over against the wind. The only thing that had a splash of color was the blue umbrella that Steve was holding over him and a man that was practically a stranger to him.   
Steve looked down the street and saw the bus heading towards them. He sighed in relief. Now I can get out of this awkward situation, head back to campus and change into some warm and dry clothes. He thought while smiling. As the bus approached them, Steve took out his wallet, and noticed that the other man did the same. The bus pulled up to their stop and opened the door. Steve looked at the other man, who returned his glance.

“You can go ahead.” He said while gesturing to the bus. The other man nodded and got on. Steve closed his umbrella and followed. As he headed towards the back of the bus, he looked at the other passengers faces. Most appeared to be tired and worn from the day. He met eyes with the man from the bus stop. He nodded his head, almost like he was gesturing towards something.   
That was weird. Steve thought while sitting down. He looked down at his lap but got the same funny feeling from the last time he encountered this man. Looking up, he noticed the man from before was still staring, and then lifted one of his arms. Pointing to Steve’s pocked, he nodded and turned back around.   
Steve frowned as he went and patted his pockets. His phone and wallet were there. Shrugging, he leaned back in his seat, shrugging of the weird encounter. 

Later that day as Steve was changing, his wallet fell out of his pants pocket. As he bent down to pick it up, he noticed that a card had fallen out of it. Confused, he picked up the card and saw that it was a phone number, written in dark blue ink. He didn’t recognize the area code, which meant that it wasn’t anyone from the DC area or New York. He placed the card on his desk and pulled a hoodie over his head. Looking at the card again, he noticed that aside from the number written on it, it was completely blank.

He placed the card back on his desk and reached for his phone. A message from Tony asked if he wanted to FaceTime later tonight. He swiped right to reply and told him that any time after 8pm was good. He set the phone back on his desk and leaned back. Maybe Tony could help him with this problem. Except he wasn’t even sure he had a problem on his hands. Maybe that’s part of the problem though.


	3. questionable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short update before finals! not sure if i will be able to get another one in before Christmas. Happy Hanuka!

“So, let me get this straight,” Tony said while sipping from a coffee mug. “You have run into the same person, in a fairly large city on two separate occasions. And each interaction was not something that you were expecting either.”   
“It wasn’t, I was-” Steve began while blushing.  
“Yeah, whatever, Rogers.” Tony said while rolling his eyes. “Do you have any other information on this guy?” Tony asked.   
“Well,” Steve muttered while looking down at his lap.  
“Well?” Tony questioned as he leaned forward into the camera some more. “Well what?”   
“I found a phone number in my wallet today.” Steve muttered quickly.   
“You found WHAT” Tony exclaimed. “Whose number?” He asked eagerly.   
“No idea. It also doesn't have an area code that I recognize either.” Steve said.   
“Well.. did you look up the area code of the number?” Tony asked.   
“No… not yet.” Steve said.   
“And how long have you had this card in your pocket?” Tony inquired.   
“Maybe about a week or so? I’m not really sure.”   
“I think this guy is stalking you.” Tony insisted. “Why else would he act like this?”   
“I’m not sure, but I’m at least going to look up where this number is from” Steve said. After several minutes filled with silence and typing, Tony heard   
“It’s from Russia.” Steve muttered while confused. He didn’t know anyone with a Russian number.   
“Oh, so you’re being stalked by a Russian spy.” Tony replied. “Not sure why I expected to hear anything else since you are hanging out in a city full of them.”   
“Hey!” Steve exclaimed. “I have yet to encounter any kind of spy, Russian or American.”   
“Okay, sure, whatever you say.” tony said while taking another sip from his mug.  
“Are you drinking coffee?” Steve asked.   
“I have a robotics project that’s due this week. And I don’t know what’s going on.” Tony replied smoothly.   
“So, you’re going to pull an all-nighter, aren’t you?” Steve said.   
“Yes mom, sorry to disappoint.” Tony said. “Besides, everyone in my major does it.” Tony said.   
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that you should.” Steve replied. Tony rolled his eyes, and then his phone rang.   
“It’s someone from my class about our project. I’ll talk to you later ok? Try not to get kidnaped please.” Tony said and then hung up. Steve leaned back in his wooden desk chair and chuckled. Even if his life was starting to get a little weird, at least something stayed mostly the same. Steve looked back down at the number on his desk and picked it up. He did know someone that lived in Russia. Or he thought he lived in Russia. But even so, he hadn’t spoken to Bucky in years. Steve thought for a moment that maybe Bucky had even forgotten about him but pushed the thought out of his head. 

If this person was really Bucky, why wouldn’t they have greeted Steve normally? This person seemed to want to interact with him, but was unsure how to, and didn’t want Steve to know who he was talking too it seemed.   
Steve opened his phone and began to type in the number. Curiosity killed the cat, Steve thought as he typed in “Hello.” into the message bubble and hit send.   
“Hello, Steve.” The unknown number replied.   
But satisfaction brought it back. Steve smirked a little and asked a question.   
“What’s your name?”


	4. James

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so several things!  
> 1) I think that I am struggling with characterization a bit, so please let me know what you think.  
> 2) I really relate to Tony Stark's struggle. I too am a mechanical engineering major with a questionable home life.  
> 3) The government shut down right as I got on break so half of the city is closed which means I've got no idea what I'm gonna do to entertain myself other than play smash.

Steve had been sitting and staring at his phone for the better part of an hour while he waited for a response. He wasn’t sure why he felt so jittery about just sending one text message, but he also had to consider:  
1\. He had no idea who he was talking to  
2\. Despite having no idea who this person is he felt drawn to them  
3\. He has run into the same person two times within the same week in a decently sized city  
Steve tapped his foot on the floor to help get rid of some of his nervous energy while he waited for a response. His roommate had been in and out as the time passed, and after the second time Clint walked in and saw Steve in the same position, he raised an eyebrow at his behavior but kept walking. He hadn’t been back in the room since, and Steve was glad for that because he was sure Clint was going to question why he had been sitting in the same position for an hour and he wasn’t studying.  
Buzz Buzz. Steve leaped forward and grabbed his phone. His shoulders dropped when he realized that it was just Tony asking him when his thanksgiving break started. He responded with an “Idk yet” and set his phone back onto the table.  
Steve sighed in frustration; he wanted to know more about this person that he kept running to, but he was also a bit weary. He had no idea who this guy is, even if he felt like he had met him before.  
Steve’s phone rang again, and he leaned forward in his wooden chair to pick it up again.  
“Hello?” Steve said  
“Hey!” Clint said. “Nat and I are gonna order some Chinese food, you want anything?” He asked. Steve thought about it for a moment.  
“Do they have chicken wings?” He asked.  
“Yeah, do you want extra mambo sauce?” Clint asked.  
“Yes please. I’ll Venmo you back.” Steve said.  
“Ok sounds good. I’ll see you later.” Clint said and then the line went dead.  
Steve pulled the phone away from his ear and looked down at the screen. There was a new message from a number that he didn’t have saved in his contacts.  
“James” It said.  
Steve jumped out of his char and promptly stubbed his toe on the edge of his desk. Thinking of obscenities that he would never say out loud, Steve stood next to his desk, heart pounding in his ears as he read the name over and over.  
His phone started ringing again, which caused Steve to startle and answer promptly.  
“Hello?” Steve said again.  
“Hey, whoa you sound a little high strung, everything ok?” Clint asked him.  
“Yeah, everything’s fine. What’s up?”  
“Your food order was $7.50. We’re gonna go pick it up soon, you wanna come?”  
“Are we taking the metro or driving?” Steve asked.  
“Haven’t decided ye- ‘Metro!’” he heard Natalia shout in the background.  
“I guess we’re taking the metro. Meet you in the lobby in 10?” Clint asked.  
“Sure, see you later.” Steve said and then hung up. He stared at the message for a while longer, while thinking about if he really wanted to spend more money since he went out earlier today in Chinatown. He had only spent about $10 since he insisted on trying to save more money. At the same time though, chicken wings with mambo sauce was a weak spot in his resolve. He reasoned that since he couldn't get them back home, he might as well eat what he wanted while at school. He knew that this was the way that many freshmen put on that infamous “freshman 15” but Steve didn’t have that problem either. In fact, he probably needed to put on 15 more pounds to get himself out of having an underweight BMI.  
Then Steve noticed that 8 minutes had passed since he hung up with Clint. He quickly grabbed his umbrella, jacked and shoved his feet into a pair of old Converse before racing out the door and turning back around when he realized that he forgot his wallet. Steve caught the dorm room door just as it was about to close on him and sighed in relief. Going down to ask for a replacement card was a walk of shame that he didn’t feel like taking. He ran back over to his desk and grabbed his wallet. Then he ran out of the room for the second time and down the hall to the elevator. As he pushed the button for the elevator, Steve looked back at his phone and typed a quick reply to James.  
“Where are you from, James?” Steve typed out and then hit send.


	5. Concern

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year! Hope 2019 is a happy and safe year for everyone.  
> *DMV stands for DC, Maryland and Virginia. It's a colloquial term used for the city and surrounding areas in MD and VA. This becomes confusing when we are talking about anything related to cars.

Steve sat in the lecture hall and tapped his foot anxiously against the floor. He had been waiting for a response from James for over 48 hours and was beginning to wonder if he would reply at all. Someone cleared their throat loudly to his right which made him jump. Steve turned his head and saw Nat glaring at him.  
“Quit it.” She snapped at him. “I’m trying to listen to what’s going on.”  
“Sorry” Steve said as his ears turned red. Nat rolled her eyes and turned back to face the front of the lecture hall again. Steve was trying his best to pay attention to what was going on, but after a few minutes he had completely zoned out and was now thinking about James again. He sighed; he didn’t know who this person was, and yet they were occupying all of his thoughts. If anything, he should be wary about the fact that he has managed to run into the same person multiple times and gotten their phone number. It was weird, no matter how Steve tried to twist it in his head. Normal people did not have these things happen to them. But as far as Steve knew, he thought that he was normal. So why did this happen to him?  
“OW!” Steve yelled and grabbed his leg.  
“Class is over, airhead.” Nat said as she grabbed her backpack.  
“Oh thanks” Steve said “I was just th-”  
“Thinking.” Nat finished for him. “You’ve been doing that a lot lately.”  
“Um, I’d like to believe that I think regularly, since I’m a college student after all.” Steve said while being over to grab his backpack.  
“You know what I mean, smartass.” Nat said as she began to walk away. Steve jumped up from his seat to catch up to her.  
“What’s on your mind?” She asked him as he pushed open the doors for the two of them.  
“Did I tell you about how I lost my wallet the other day on the red line?” Steve asked as they made their way down the hallway.  
“Yeah, why?” she responded.  
“Well, I ran into the same guy again.” He muttered while looking down at his feet.  
“And?” Nat pressed while raising an eyebrow. “I mean that’s kinda weird, but it’s not super weird if he’s a student here or a local.”  
“You’re right.” Steve sighed. “He’s probably just a local.”  
“What do you mean by probably?”  
“Well” Steve began as he pushed open the doors of the building and stepped outside into the cool fall air “I’ve never seen this person before my wallet was stolen. They never said a word to me when they returned it either.” Steve looked up from the concrete and back at Natalia. He could see her face morphing into a concerned look.  
“Ok…” she murmured.  
“Yeah, well the other day when I was out with Peggy in Georgetown I ran into him again. He was waiting for the same bus that I was waiting for on Wisconsin avenue…” Steve trailed off and looked back down at his feet again.  
“Do you want to go inside and get a drink?” Steve said.  
“Stephen.” Natalia snapped. “Tell me what’s going on.”  
“I will, I will! Promise.” Steve assured her frantically. “Let's sit down though.” He replied as he moved his way towards the door to open it for her.  
“Fine.” She said while rolling her eyes and following him into the cafe. Steve walked to the back of the room to hide their conversation from prying ears and to get away from all the hustle from college kids trying to get their caffeine fix of the day.  
“Well?” Nat asked as she pulled out a wooden seat and sat in it. She placed her elbows on the wooden table and rested her chin in her hands.  
“Well, then I shared my umbrella with him, since he was soaked and shivering.” Steve said while setting his bag on the floor and sitting in the seat across from Nat.  
“And we were like that for a while until the bus came.”  
“Did you speak to him?” Natalia asked while tilting her head slightly.  
“Yeah but he didn’t respond, which made waiting for the bus really awkward.”  
“Then what happened?” She pressed while she noticed that Steve was playing with the sleeve of his sweater.  
“I got his number.” He muttered under his breath.  
“You did what?!” Natalia exclaimed. “Steve, what if this guy is some kind of stalker? Please don’t tell me that you texted him. His response was a sheepish shrug and a smile. Nat facepalmed.  
“Do you realize how stupid that was?” She asked as she leaned across the table.  
“Ok, ok, but hear me out.” Steve responded while raising his hands. “I didn’t get any kind of bad vibes from this guy. Plus, he already had my wallet, so if he really wanted to stalk me, he would have kept it for longer to get all the information he needed out of it.”  
“That’s a fair point, but not an excuse. Did he reply to you?” She asked while placing her hands on the table.  
“Yeah, but I texted him again and he hasn’t responded since.” Steve mumbled while resting his cheek on his chin and pouting slightly.  
“Oh, I forgot to mention that I have no clue where this area code is from. It’s not a DMV code and it’s not a New York code either.” He said while perking back up.  
“Can I see the messages?” She asked while holding out her hand. Steve unlocked it and handed it over to her. She stared at his phone for a moment and Steve saw the slight concern from earlier turn into a more serious face.  
“Steve, this is a Russian area code.” Nat said softly. “He might be a spy.” He rolled his eyes.  
“Oh, come on Nat! He’s not a spy.” He said. Then his phone buzzed.  
“He’s responded. He wants to know what you mean.” She said while handing his phone back to him.


	6. Overprotective friends are the best kind of friends to have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> engineering is kicking my ass. updates will be less frequent probably.

“What does he mean ‘What do I mean?’” Steve asked. “I thought that my message was pretty clear!” He exclaimed.

“Well, to be fair it could have different meanings. For example, you could mean where he was born, or you could mean where he grew up.” Nat replied while shrugging.

“Stop glaring at me, you know that I’m right.” She said. Steve pouted at her and the reached for his phone.

“Hey! Give it back!” Steve said while standing up to get a better reach.

“No.” Nat replied. “Not until we get some more information on this guy. I want to look up what region his phone number is from, and I want to know exactly what this guy looks like.” 

“After I reply to this text message?” Steve said

“Ugh, fine.” She said and passed the phone back to him

_Where were you born?_ Steve typed out and sent.

“OK, there. I asked him where he was born.”

“Send me his number.” she said while pulling out her laptop from her bag.

“Why, what are you going to do? Comb the internet over until you can find more information about this guy?”

“Yes.” She said without looking up at Steve. “I just messaged Clint. He’s on his way to help.”  
“You know, I really don’t think that this is that serious.” Steve muttered while scratching his head.

“Isn’t it though?” Nat replied while resting her cheek on the palm of her hand. You have no idea who this guy is, you know that you don’t. He’s got a Russian phone number. We are in the capital of the United States, which if you didn’t know- is Russia’s biggest enemy. We also already know that the Russians have been interfering with other stuff around here, and that several spies have already been found. I don’t think that this is being silly by any means.”

“What’s this I hear about Steve’s spy lover?” Clint said while pulling up a chair at their table and sitting down. “You’ve got the hots for some guy that you don’t even know. Cute.” He said while leaning over to pull out his laptop.

“Guys!” Steve yelled, and caused several people near them to look over.

“Calm down Steve!” Clint said. “You know that Nat is right. I understand that you think that we might be acting a little paranoid, but it’s with good intentions.” Steve sank back down into his seat. “I guess so.”

_Buzz Buzz_

“Any News?” Nat says out loud. “It’s from Tony. Wait… did you tell him? Does he also know?” She pressed.

“Yes, and yes.” Steve sighed.

“And what does he think?” Clint asked

“The same as you but it’s Tony so he’s not as intense about it.”

“The only thing that he is intense about is engineering. And drinking.”

“It’s how he copes” Nat suggested. “Well, Steve, it seems like your Russian friend is from Moscow!”

“Like that’s not suspicious or anything.” Clint muttered.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying! You really should be more careful, for your own sake and so that I don’t start going grey early.”

“Very funny Nat.” Steve muttered. “I’m gonna go get a drink, do you guys want anything?”

“No” They both said. Steve got up and walked over to the line. It wasn’t that long at the moment. It was after the afternoon coffee rush, but before the late-night study rush.

“Can I have a medium black coffee? Dark roast please.” Steve said to the barista.

Moments later, Steve was stirring milk into his coffee, but his mind was somewhere else. _Maybe Nat and Clint are right? Looking at it from someone else’s perspective, this does look really suspicious._ As Steve walked back to the table that they were sitting at, Clint slid his phone across the table to him.

“Your friend James responded. Says he’s from Brooklyn.”


End file.
